Dire Straits - Brothers In Arms

Nirvana's Tense, Brilliant Unplugged in New York, 20 Years Later - Andrew Wallace Chamings Recorded four months before Kurt Cobain's death, Nirvana's MTV performance was intimate, awkward, and totally genius. Nirvana’s legendary Unplugged in New York has never really had the chance to be evaluated outside of the canonization of Kurt Cobain that followed his entry into the “27 Club.” It’s admittedly hard to hear him sing lines like “I swear I don’t have a gun.” and “Don’t expect me to die,” without thinking about what would tragically follow, only four months after the performance. But on the 20th anniversary of the song set's airing, it’s worth considering the performance as a work of music, not mythology. The stripped-down MTV franchise was a big success at the start of the ‘90s. While intimacy was an intended part of the concept (Clapton’s delicate “Tears In Heaven” was given a second life by his Unplugged rendition), parts of the Nirvana set at Sony’s Hells Kitchen studio feel so personal it’s awkward. Watching the video of the performance only heightens the effect.